St. Joseph's Brady Johnson (7) celebrates scoring a run against Perry Central during the MHSAA 2A Playoff Baseball held at St. Joseph Catholic High School Friday May 10, 2018.(Bob Smith-For The Clarion Ledger)(Photo: Bob Smith/For Clarion Ledger)Buy Photo

It's that time of year again: the best baseball teams in the state of Mississippi will descend on Jackson for the state championships this week. Here's five things you need to know heading into the Capitol city's baseball marathon.

Familiar foes

Jackson Prep (26-9) remains the team to beat in the MAIS ranks, and Jackson Academy (25-10) will be the latest to vie for a series win over the Patriots in the Class AAAA D-1 Championship. That series opens at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Prep.

The Patriots are 5-1 in three-game series with three sweeps this season, and they face a familiar foe in the Raiders. Prep took two out of three games from Jackson Academy at the end of April.

That said, the two teams are as evenly matched as they have been the last couple of years. Prep certainly has an edge on defense, with a team ERA of 3.24 and just 35 errors in 35 games, compared to a 4.28 ERA and 64 errors in 35 games for Jackson Academy.

But the Raiders are a better hitting team from top to bottom. They carry a team average of .369 (with Trent Tyre, Edwin Smith, Sam Ciaccio and Kellum Clark all batting .442 or better). Jackson Academy scores an average 8.54 runs a game, while its opponents average right at 5.1.

"To me, they are just solid offensively one through nine," Jackson Prep coach Brent Heavener said. "There's no easy out in that lineup. We know we aren't going to keep them from getting hits, keep them from putting together big innings. If we can do that, that's what we're going to try to do."

The second game of the series is set for 5 p.m. at Jackson Academy on Wednesday and the two teams will play a third game immediately following, if it's necessary.

Two metro teams left in MHSAA

Buy Photo

St. Andrew's C.J. Carron winds up to pitch against Seminary on Thursday, May 10, 2018, in game one of the MHSAA Class 3A South State Baseball Championship at St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Ridgeland, Miss.(Photo: Chris Todd, For Clarion Ledger)

St. Andrew's and St. Joe-Madison took different paths through South State, but both found a way to survive and advance to their respective championship series.

The Saints (31-6) were ambushed in an 11-1 loss to Seminary in the first game of the 3A South State series, but rebounded with a 12-5 win in game 2 and a 6-5 victory in game 3 to earn their second bid to the title series in three years.

They'll face North Pontotoc (24-5) and its all-state senior Clark Mills in the 3A Championship, which begins with game 1 at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Trustmark Park in Pearl.

Buy Photo

St. Andrew's Banks Tolley (12) is introduced on Thursday, May 10, 2018, in game one of the MHSAA Class 3A South State Baseball Championship at St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Ridgeland, Miss.(Photo: Chris Todd, For Clarion Ledger)

"It's just like the rest of these playoff series," St. Andrew's coach Mark Fanning said. "Going in, nobody thinks we can win, and we just have to find a way. What we have going for us is that we've got several seniors and juniors who played for a state title as freshmen and sophomores. They were determined to get back here and they did it."

The Bruins (26-10) scored 25 runs in two games to sweep Perry Central in the 2A South State Finals. Their championship series opponent East Union (28-6) bounced back from a 4-3 loss to East Webster on Thursday with a 2-1 win on Friday and a 4-2 win on Saturday.

The Bruins and Urchins will square off in Game One of the 2A Championship series at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Trustmark Park.

DeSoto's bats versus George County's arms

The 6A Championship series rarely disappoints, and this year's matchup between George County and DeSoto Central should be no different.

The Rebels (26-4) come in as hot as any team in the state, having won 10 out of their last 11 games by a combined score of 54-21. They have two splendid pitchers, Logan Tanner and Trevor McDonald, who are both juniors. Tanner is 7-2 with a 1.57 ERA, and McDonald is 7-1 with a 1.41 ERA.

They'll face a DeSoto Central team is coming off a North State Finals series in which it swept powerhouse Oxford in back-to-back, one-run games. The Jaguars (27-8) are no slouch on the mound with Cade Smith (8-3, 3.45 ERA) and Matt Taylor (7-2, 2.08 ERA) serving as the primary starters, but DeSoto's real strength is in their lineup. They are batting .352 as a team and have three underclassmen — Blaze Jordan, Kyle Booker and Hunter French — all hitting over .400.

The 6A title series kicks off at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Trustmark Park.

Hattiesburg gets another shot

Buy Photo

Hattiesburg baseball coach Joe Hartfield has the Tigers back in the 5A state championship for the second time in three years.(Photo: CHRIS TODD)

The Hattiesburg Tigers may be experiencing a little deja vu as they head back to Trustmark Park for another 5A State Championship. They're just hoping that deja vu doesn't extend into the series.

The Tigers (24-10) are making their second trip to Jackson in three years, having lost the 5A championship series to Oxford in 2016. This time, they'll face a Lewisburg team that barn-stormed its way through Saltillo, Germantown and Ridgeland en route to a North State title.

Tiger coach Joe Hartfield called the Patriots (26-7) "a good ball team all the way around" and said he's hoping his team can rely on experience to bring home a state title.

Hattiesburg has two all-state selections — outfielder Joe Gray and infielders Dexter Jordan — who played in the 2016 championship

"It hasn't been an easy road for us," Hartfield said. "We were down 6-1 in an elimination game against South Jones two weeks ago... but at the end of the day, we've been able to persevere because we've got guys who have played in big games like this. They know what it's like to be there."

The 5A title series opens at 7 p.m. Tuesday night at Trustmark Park.

The best of the best

With apologies to Gray, who is probably a first-rounder in the upcoming MLB draft, few if any have been more impressive through the regular season and deep into the playoffs than Vancleave's Bailee Hendon.

Hendon is a specimen at 6-foot-4 and 175 pounds; a left-handed pitcher who comes into the championship series against New Hope with a perfect 11-0 record and a 0.67 ERA in 63 innings. He has struck out 98 opposing hitters and walked just 15.

Oh yeah, and he hit for a .519 average, scored 44 times and drove in 35 runs in 34 games. He is currently committed to Jones County Junior College.

You can see Hendon in action when the Bulldogs open the 4A Championship series against New Hope (29-5) at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Trustmark Park.